A 2 -year-old man named John Peter Eriu was arrested by the police in Jinja for carrying illegal items. Among these items were fake documents, two machetes, security equipment, and even a toy gun.
Eriu had been pretending to be a police officer, with the apparent intention of deceiving, robbing, or even harming innocent people. He is currently in police custody, facing charges of aggravated robbery, impersonation, providing false information, and possessing government property.
According to James Mubi, the spokesperson for the Kiira region, Eriu had come under the scrutiny of police intelligence teams following reports from community members who had seen him with a gun and wearing police and army uniforms.
Eriu resides in Butiki Matala village, Buwenda ward, in Jinja Northern division. Police officers searched his rented house on Wednesday and Thursday, where they discovered a toy gun, two pairs of army boots, two batons, UPDF and Police T-shirts. The Police T-shirts were from the Police Training School Kabalye in Masindi.
In a nearby banana plantation, a trash can was found containing counterfeit documents, including a dfcu ATM card and a Kampala University Jinja campus identity card, fake SIM cards, and two sharp machetes.
James Mubi praised the Mafubira division community, where Buwenda ward is located, for providing vital information about the suspect. He urged the public to remain vigilant against such impostors.
So far, 15 people have come forward to file complaints against the suspect.